by Dora Heldt
It was obvious he didn’t believe a word. He looked hurt.
“Well, we don’t have to do anything. I guess I got the wrong idea about us.”
I let my bike fall and put my arm around his waist.
“No, you didn’t. It’s just that my father has gotten a silly idea in his head about something, and that’s why I’d rather not run into him while we’re together. Can’t we see each other tonight? Later on?”
I didn’t want to tell him the scare story about the hunt for the con man, nor did I want him to think my father was some kind of nutcase.
“Okay, sure.” Johann bent over and rolled up his jeans. “Then I’ll go down to the beach to walk off my frustration rather than asking any more questions. You can call me when you’ve freed yourself from your clan.”
I was relieved he hadn’t asked what idea it was my father had fixed in his head.
“I’ll call you, for sure. Until this evening then?”
He smiled wryly and gave me a quick kiss.
“I hope so.”
As I rode along the promenade into town, I let my happiness that he was back wash over me. Then I remembered that he still hadn’t explained what was going on. But on the other hand, I hadn’t asked. It had to be a good sign that he’d come back so soon, that he’d just picked up his money and his documents. My father and Gisbert would have to find themselves another suspect after all.
I was just locking my bike to a rack in front of the post office when I heard another whistle. This time I looked up right away. Dorothea and Nils were walking over to me. Dorothea held onto my bike so I could get my purse out of the rack more easily.
“You look like you’ve just fallen in with a load of beachcombers. What happened to your hair? And you have sand on your chin.”
I touched my face. She was right, I was covered in sand. And yet he’d kissed me anyway.
“I was down on the beach.” My hair felt like straw. “And I haven’t brushed my hair yet today.”
“Why do you have such an inane grin on your face?” Dorothea was looking at me curiously. “Don’t tell me that Johann…”
“Shh.” Instinctively, I turned around and looked for my father’s face among the passersby. I was starting to get paranoid. “Yes, he’s back, but Heinz and Gisbert don’t need to know that.”
Nils looked from one of us to the other. “Are you talking about the con man? The guy from the guesthouse who doesn’t really live in Bremen?”
“Oh, Nils.” Dorothea waved her hand. “Heinz and Gisbert are just acting all important. The guy’s name is Johann Thiess, and there’s no way he’s a con man.”
“You know him? So why don’t you just explain to everyone?”
“Yes, why?” I wondered out loud, looking at Nils. “Well, the two of them were so convinced. My father and his loyal sidekick, Dr. Watson, wouldn’t have listened to us anyway.”
Dorothea nodded. “And there were a few things we were unsure about too. I’ll explain the rest on the ferry.”
“The ferry? Where are you going?”
Nils put his arm around Dorothea’s shoulder. “We’re escaping. As if it wasn’t enough that Heinz grilled me, and my father pestered Dorothea with questions about her cooking skills, possible allergies, and weight, now it seems my mother’s being sent into the running. She wants to have a barbecue with us tonight. So I decided enough was enough; we’re heading off to Juist by ourselves for the night.”
“And the restaurant?”
Dorothea replied. “I’m almost finished with the painting, there’s not much left to do.” Nils nodded. “We’ve done a lot already. Right, we have to shoot off, the ferry’s leaving in twenty minutes.”
Longingly, I watched them go. I would have given anything to do the same with Johann. Some quality time on a peaceful island with the man of my dreams.
“Christine! Christiiiine!”
Emphasis on the peaceful. I turned in the direction of my father’s voice. As soon as I saw him, I gasped.
“So? Do you like them?”
“They” were a pair of shorts made from a material that looked like a camouflage tent. To go with them, he was wearing a yellow shirt covered with garishly bright sweets. The new cap was light blue and featured the slogan “Eighteen at Last.”
I tried to get my breath back. “Where on earth did you find those?”
My father waved his hand through the air. “Oh, you know, here and there. We shook up a fair few shops. Kalli and the girls are sitting over there in the ice cream parlor. I saw you through the window. Would you like an ice cream too?”
Without waiting for an answer, he headed back. I followed him slowly. Staring at the bonbons on his shirt for too long made me feel dizzy.
Emily’s cap was yellow, with the slogan “Super Mouse.” Lena had a pink one that read “Dream Girl.”
“Wow, you picked some lovely caps, girls.”
I tried to sound earnest. They beamed at me.
“Heinz helped us pick them.”
My father nodded proudly. “We made sure we took our time. We didn’t just pick the first ones we saw.”
Emily shook her head. “No, we went to five other shops first.”
“Exactly.” My father waved the waiter over. “What would you like, Christine?”
“Coffee, please.”
I waited until the waiter had gone. “So who helped you pick yours out, Dad?”
He looked down at his new clothes contentedly. “The children picked the shirt. You know, I don’t think I’ve ever owned such a lovely one. I’m going to wear it for the opening of the restaurant.”
Lena put her finger on a red bonbon. “There are bonbons on it, see? It was the nicest shirt out of all of them.”
The waiter put my coffee down in front of me. I just about managed to keep a straight face.
“Yes, it’s lovely. And the hat?”
“It matches perfectly. I picked it out myself.”
“It says ‘Eighteen at Last’ on it.”
“Really?” He took it off and turned it around so he could read the slogan. “So it does. I didn’t even notice. Well, so what?”
Kalli pushed Lena’s ice cream cup a little closer to her.
“Well, Heinz is at least eighteen, if not at last, so it’s almost true. It’s good quality, the hat I mean. And it’s a lovely color.”
“We’re just about to go to the cinema with Heinz and Kalli.” Emily sounded excited. “There’s a film on about penguins.”
I looked at my father. He nodded proudly again.
“March of the Penguins. It’s a nature film. Something educational for the children.”
Kalli leaned over. “Would you like to come with us? I can get another ticket.”
“No, thank you, though. I’m going shopping. I still need a dress for the opening. We could meet afterward in the Central Café; it’s in the same building.”
“Great, in two hours then.”
I finished my coffee and stood up. “Okay then, have fun with the penguins.”
“Thank you.” My father nodded. “And Christine?”
“Yes?”
“Make sure you buy yourself something nice. Colors suit you, too. You shouldn’t always wear those frumpy monotone dresses. You’re not that old, you know. And besides, it’s summer.”
I forced a smile. “I’ll do my best. See you later.”
In the fourth shop, I finally hit the jackpot. The dress was knee-length and dark green, with thin straps. I thought it really suited me, and the sales assistant gave me an approving nod in the mirror. Suddenly, Frau Weidemann-Zapek’s voice roared across the room.
“Look, Hannelore, there’s Christine in front of the mirror.”
Her wide form—this time encased in a denim suit with green and red appliquéd cats romping cheerfully across her ample bosom—pushed itself in front of my reflection.
“My dear Christine, the cut isn’t bad, but it’s so dreary…say something, Hannelore.”
; Frau Klüppersberg took off the wool cap she was wearing at a jaunty angle, which was—of course—matched to an apricot tube dress. Her seven rows of glass pearl necklaces clattered noisily against the buttons on the dress.
“I agree with Mechthild. I’d pick a stronger color, a rich red or a warm yellow, and maybe a striking flower pattern. That green is much too staid.”
Without further ado, I smiled warmly at the two experts from Münster-Hiltrup, murmured “Hello,” turned on my heel, and said to the saleswoman: “This is the one. I’ll take it.”
Five minutes later, when I left the shop with my fancy shopping bag, I passed by the ladies sitting on a bench right outside. I’d walked right into their trap. Mechthild looked at my bag.
“I can lend you a lovely scarf to go with it. Oh, what am I saying, I’ll give it to you as a gift. As a thank you for your charming breakfast services.”
“Oh, that’s not—”
Hannelore interrupted me. “You have to take it. We sell these scarves in our shop—they’re our best sellers. You need to have a little more courage when it comes to fashion, my dear, so let the professionals give you a helping hand. So, where’s your father? We were just wondering, that’s all.”
I was just standing there like a lemon, but I didn’t want to squeeze onto the narrow bench with them. I shifted my weight to my other foot.
“My father is with Kalli and—”
I suddenly heard panting behind me, and turned around. Gisbert stood there, his face bright red, gasping for breath. He had appeared so suddenly it made me jump.
“Where’s…Heinz?” Whistling out of sheer breathlessness, he collapsed down onto the bench. Mechthild bounced up a bit and looked at him with alarm.
“Has something happened?”
Gisbert’s breath was rattling. I’d never seen him smoking, so maybe he had allergies, or was out of shape. Or both. He looked around with a mysterious look on his face.
“It certainly has. We all have to meet up right away. Code word ‘Shark Bar.’ Do you understand?”
Hannelore nearly choked. “The con man! Have you seen him?”
Now I was the one unable to catch my breath. “Where?”
“It seems he’s checked in to the Georg Hotel. I recognized him at the reception desk,” explained Gisbert triumphantly. I couldn’t help but wonder what a sap like Gisbert was doing in a high-end hotel like that. As I looked at the ladies’ horrified faces, my mind raced. But Johann was on the beach, not at Georg’s, he was staying in the guesthouse, and besides, Gisbert had never even met him. Relieved, I thought back to the description my father had given of him, which had only depicted a man of average build, middle-aged, with average blond hair and deceitful eyes. And after all, that could be every third person. Presumably that was why there was now a new suspect and I would be left in peace. And so would Johann. Misinterpreting my smile, Gisbert puffed his chest out.
“Yes, you’re happy now that I didn’t give up so quickly, aren’t you? I guess he didn’t have to be somewhere else urgently after all. We’ll get him locked up, I promise you that. So where’s Heinz? He doesn’t know anything about the latest developments.”
Hannelore was playing nervously with her necklace. “You know, Gisbert, I didn’t want to mention it in the Shark Bar in front of everyone, but now that there’s danger ahead, so to speak, personal feelings don’t matter as much.”
Mechthild looked at her friend and raised her eyebrows.
“What are you saying?”
Hannelore put her ring-covered hand on Gisbert’s knee. Three pairs of eyes followed her hand; Mechthild’s expression looked angry, mine was disinterested, and Gisbert’s panicked.
“Well, to cut a long story short, now and again, Herr Thiess gave me a few…now, how shall I put it…desiring looks.”
I coughed, and Gisbert shouted, “I knew it!” Mechthild stood up slowly and put her purse over her shoulder.
“Oh, Hannelore, you can be so refreshingly naive sometimes. He was only saying hello. Now with me, on the other hand…he invited me to dinner. But I said no. I know what’s appropriate at the end of the day.”
What a put-down! Hannelore Klüppersberg was struggling to control her expression. Looking pink and flustered, she took her hand from Gisbert’s knee.
“Mechthild, you can be so…”
Unable to find the right word, she shut her mouth again.
Gisbert stared ahead, his jaw set. “We have to do something,” he finally said. “Mechthild, Hannelore, you almost became the victims of a criminal. I have an idea. Christine, where’s your father?”
I pointed vaguely toward the Theatre House. “The last time I saw him was over there, along with Kalli and two young ladies.”
“Young ladies?” Mechthild and Hannelore were speaking in unison again.
Gisbert turned around to them. “There’s a tea dance in the Theatre House today. Shall we go? Then we can fill in Heinz on what’s been happening right away.”
“Gisbert,” I began in my most patronizing tone. “If I were you, I wouldn’t butt in. The two girls were really very pretty and young, and Heinz and Kalli looked like they were having a great time. Don’t gate-crash their party.”
“Christine!” all three said in an outraged chorus.
“Well, I just thought you should know. I didn’t say a word. Good luck then.”
What I didn’t tell them was that there was a cinema in the Theatre House too. But if Gisbert, who was such an authority on local culture, didn’t know that, then it couldn’t have been that important.
I left them and walked along the street in the hope that they would neither follow me nor find my father before I did. I still had another half hour until we were meeting in the café and 800 euros in my purse, or rather, 710 euros and a dress. I stopped in front of a perfumery. The last time I’d had a romantic encounter with Johann I’d smelled of turpentine, so this evening had to be better. I went in.
The Penguins
* * *
Five perfumes later and one hundred euros worse off, but with a fragrant aura that would give any Hollywood diva a run for her money, I set out for the Central Café. I was a little late, but beauty can’t be rushed. I was relieved to see the four moviegoers sitting at a table by the window, and Gisbert and the two ladies were nowhere to be seen. It seemed their search had been unfruitful; perhaps Gisbert was steering Mechthild over the dance floor at this very moment. Or even both ladies at once. With a gloating smile, I made my way over to the table. No one looked up at me, and the mood felt strange. The twins had their heads close together and were whispering quietly. My father was staring at the table, Kalli at his clasped hands. I cleared my throat loudly.
“Hello. So, how was the film?”
Kalli and Heinz lifted their heads and looked at me solemnly. My father threw a quick glance at the children then beckoned me to come closer.
“What happened?” In expectation of some terrible news, I sank down onto a chair. My father’s voice sounded hoarse.
“Did you know?”
“Know what?”
“That so many of them die? Hundreds. The little ones too.”
“Where? Why?”
“In the Antarctic.” My father blew his nose.
I looked at Kalli questioningly. “The emperor penguins,” he explained. “The weaker ones get left behind. It was really terrible.”
“The penguins?” I tried to look sympathetic, but struggled. Even though I quite liked penguins.
Emily, who had only just noticed I was there, smiled. “It was a nice film. But some of them died. Penguins lay eggs too. Heinz is going to be the Egg King for the penguins.”
“Oh.” In my mind’s eye I could see my father plodding through the Antarctic in his snowsuit to save the penguins. Oh well, there were worse careers for retirees. Although it remained to be seen what my mother would have to say about it. Hoofing it through the snow with a painful knee would be a problem, especially if the artificial knee froze, t
oo. And all that for some unknown penguins. I had the feeling I was starting to go a bit mad. Lena put her little hand on top of my father’s.
“You shouldn’t be sad. It was just a film. Can we have some juice now?”
“Oh, Lena…”
My father laid all the sorrow of the world and the emperor penguins into his short answer. Then he seemed to remember his responsibility.
“You’re right, of course. So, let’s order something.”
“Well, you recovered quickly.”
My father punished me with a glance for my brash tone. How could a man like him have such an insensitive daughter? I ignored him and waved the waiter over.
The twins continued chatting, while we grown-ups remained silent for a few more minutes. My father looked very thoughtful. Suddenly, Kalli leaned over to get a better look at the dance floor next door, which he could see through the window.
“Look, there’s Gisbert with the two ladies. Is he giving them a guided tour?”
My father followed his gaze. “He can’t be. He’s much too young to be a tour guide; you need experience for something like that.”
Kalli looked as though he was about to knock on the window. I grabbed his arm. “Kalli, do you really want to wave them over right now? Mechthild and Hannelore can be awfully loud, and Heinz can’t handle that right now.”
At once, my father looked sad again. “She’s right. I really can’t take that right now. Duck down a little so they don’t see us.”
Kalli obeyed, and I gave a sigh of relief. My father would join in the investigations soon enough, but for now he needed to mourn for the little penguins in peace.
Feeling cheerful, I put Marleen’s bike back into the shed. Kalli had suggested taking the girls to the trampoline on the west beach. The twins had been over the moon at the idea, of course. My father was a little lacking in enthusiasm, perhaps, but joined them all the same. He felt responsible for the children, and besides, there was no real opportunity for him to start his penguin rescue scheme right now.